I wasn’t sure what to expect when I put this spending report together because I have been really bad about checking in on my spending. In fact, before I put this report together, I hadn’t even opened my bank account in nearly three weeks. Oops. So what a surprise it was to learn that I did a pretty good job with my spending this month! There are definitely some problem areas (*cough*food*cough*), but so many categories came down by a large margin and I’m really proud of myself for that. I think a lot of this had to do with how busy I was with medical appointments and work on top of that. Is the secret to spending less money being physically ill?! Hmm…
Let’s review my goals for June:
- Cancel Amazon Prime – Complete! I think I was responding to a comment on my last spending report when I was like, “Girl, just cancel the damn thing.” So I did.
- Spend below my means by at least $100 – Complete! Not only did I meet this goal, but I surpassed it big time. I spent $600 below my means in June! Holy shit!
- Meet my online ordering goal – Not complete. SIGH.
Here’s how things shook out this month. As a reminder, this is a spending report, which means I am only talking about the money I spent after it hits my bank account. You will not see anything related to my 401k, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, etc.
Spending Breakdown
Categories That Increased
BILLS ($2,897 | ↑ $840)
Oof. This one hurts! But I expected it. I had two car payments go through in June (one was delayed from May). That accounts for the majority of the overage. My electric bill was also higher in June (by $52), and it’s going to be even higher in July, sigh.
SPA ($215 | ↑ $149)
I got an underarm wax as well as a hair color and trim. I also bought a dry shampoo powder that my stylist sold me on. I don’t know if I love it, but it’s better than a lot of the aerosol dry shampoo I’ve used.
ENTERTAINMENT ($235 | ↑ $78)
A lot of my entertainment expenses were fun outings with friends! There was book club, a night out at the Melting Pot (definitely the most expensive night on this list!), Clueless and dinner afterward, and lunch with friends. All good experiences that I wouldn’t trade!
FOOD ($978 | ↑ $63)
Another high month of food spending (reminder: this is for one person!) The overage mainly comes from groceries. Are groceries becoming more expensive or am I just bad at grocery shopping effectively? Hrmph. I need to do more analysis on my grocery spending, but that doesn’t feel like a very fun project. My online ordering was also out of control, but I spent around the same as I did in May. I just did not come anywhere close to my goal of spending $100 or less on online orders.
MEDICAL ($54 | ↑ $21)
A slight increase from May. Mostly bought some period supplies and more wipes for my CPAP. I could have used my HSA card for these, but I paid for them out of pocket.
Categories That Decreased
CATS ($0 | ↓ $574)
Somehow, I didn’t spend any money on my cats in June? WILD.
TRAVEL ($100 | ↓ $351)
A quiet month for travel, although this category is definitely going to start getting a workout as I start to pay my mom back for all of the London expenses she’s paid for. I bought some travel supplies and tickets to the Orlando aquarium (this falls under travel and not entertainment since my mom and I are going to the aquarium during our Orlando vacation next week).
GIFTS ($25 | ↓ $241)
The only expense in this category is my monthly donation to the ASPCA.
SHOPPING ($188 | ↓ $113)
I continue to decrease my shopping category. I think the main reason this category decreased so much in June is because I didn’t buy any books! (From March-May, I spent nearly $400 total on books and bookish items, so it was time for a break.) My highest totals in June were:
- Home (throw pillows, couch cover, mug): $72
- Clothes (summer dress, bathing suit): $57
- Beauty (eyebrow pencil, cleanser): $23
CAR ($187 | ↓ $57)
I put money away for car insurance and got gas once. A very easy month for car expenses!
SAVINGS ($150 | ↓ $37)
While my savings decreased a bit from May, this is actually not as bad as it looks! I stopped my monthly contribution to my “cats” fund since I’m now paying $60 a month for Eloise’s vet care plan. And I added a $25/week contribution to my emergency savings. I funneled $75 to that savings account in June, which is the first time I’ve put money in that account in… far too long.
SUBSCRIPTIONS ($65 | ↓ $34)
Two big things: I canceled my Amazon Prime membership and I rolled over my Book of the Month credit, so I didn’t have that expense in June.
SUPPLIES ($57 | ↑ $34)
The typical supplies: mouthwash, deodorant, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, hand soap, conditioner, and batteries.
Overall Thoughts
This was a great spending month for me, and I hope the trend continues. I do need to start sending money to my mom to pay for my portion of our London expenses (she was gracious enough to put it all on her credit card and allow me to pay her back in increments) and I’d like to be fully caught up by the end of August at the latest. What this month gives me is hope that I can make the move to a two-bedroom apartment and handle my expenses without feeling like I’m living paycheck to paycheck. Money won’t be as free-flowing as it is now (which is why I keep staying in this one-bedroom apartment… it’s nice to have a lot of disposable income!), but I can make it work. And it’s worth it to me to make it happen.
My goals for July are to send at least $1,000 to my mom for London expenses, meet my online ordering goal (LOL), and continue to spend below my means ($250 or higher!).
What’s one of your “must-have” subscriptions? For me, it’s my Patreon subscriptions! I couldn’t live without them!
I door dashed for the first time ever to send dinner to Dorothy at dance when I could not be there and the app would not let me order for a specific delivery time, and I was HORRIFIED at how expensive it was. Over $20 for chipotle for 1 tween with no drink! WHAT THE HELL? What if you just started ordering for pick up and made yourself go get the food? You would spend less and order less frequently because it’s a pain in the butt?
It is SO expensive these days to do online orders. It’s truly ridiculous. I don’t know why I keep letting myself spend $30 on a simple dinner when it is just so much cheaper to do it at home. GAH.
Woo hoo low spend month!!! And that’s with two car payments!
What I would say about your grocery bill is that you have the numbers to show that your health has improved and you’ve had to buy smaller clothes. Sure there is probably something to trim, but also you are doing hella stuff right.
Subscription wise, my must is the NYT crossword app. It’s $40 a year, which is out of character for me but I love it.
I really wish I could get my food budget to a more reasonable number, but I really do love an online order and eating at restaurants!
Ooh, the crosswords app! That’s a great one!
The only subscription I have is a Spotify subscription. I have only had it for one month and I’m not sure I’ll keep it once I’m done driving back and forth to Michigan two or three times a month. I just don’t regularly listen to enough music to justify it. I’m just too cheap to pay for Patreon subs or anything like that. If it’s behind a paywall, that’s it for me, I guess.
Ooh, I really love my Spotify subscription because it gives me 15 hours of audiobooks listening monthly, too! I also don’t listen to music all that much, but it’s worth it for me so that I can grab some of the more popular audiobooks that would normally have a long wait through Libby!
Hooray for a surprise low-spending month! That’s always nice. I’m wondering if you’d share what Patreons you subscribe to and the benefits you get from them? My #1 favorite paid subscription is Audible. I know…Amazon. But I love audiobooks, and I have a nice library of them there. I’m currently listening to Caroline and love it!
I subscribe to The Popcast Patreon, which is a pop culture podcast; Sarah’s Book Shelves Live, which is a bookish podcast (and her bonus Patreon episodes are SO worth the price of the subscription); and Oh God It’s Friday, yet another podcast that is rewatching episodes of the TGIF line-up from the early 90s (like Full House, Family Matters, etc.). I love the extra podcast episodes – they bring me so much joy!
I would really miss my patreon subscriptions. I can’t pick just one, that would be like picking a favorite child! I would also miss having Netflix and Hulu (I’m watching The Bear right now so I’ll pick Hulu as my favorite content subscription).
Congrats on a low spend month! June was a higher spend month for me since I traveled to Chicago with Will and bought some clothes from Loft on sales and got some from a consignment shop. I just have very few casual summer clothes that feel good on me right now (and literally own 2 non-workout tank tops which is not enough in this epic heat!!).
I would miss my Patreon subscriptions, too! I also love having a variety of streaming services at my fingertips. I’m enjoying Hulu a lot now, too!
Yes, you need summer clothes that make you feel good!
Wow, you did great on expenses this month!
I have a Spotify family plan and a DuoLingo one, both money well spent. I have two Substack subscriptions, to my friend Laura’s Cozy Library and to the Fug Girls’ Drinks With Broads. Also money well spent! I just cancelled my only Patreon subscription (Forever 35, they changed a host and I just CAN’T WITH HER ANYMORE). In terms of other subscriptions, though, I have Nutrafol and Prose, both of which I love, and – should I admit this? I’m going to – I get Rex’s dog food through Amazon subscribe. My family will not hear of us cancelling our membership and frankly, I know I’m not going to do it anyway. I know! I know. But Rex’s dog food is like in 50 pound bags since he eats 5 cups a day, and the cost is so much lower, and I just can’t haul those bags around in the grocery store.
You do NOT have to apologize to me about Amazon. It’s so convenient – I totally get it! And especially for those big-ass dog food bags. (5 cups a day, omg)
Every time I finish a Duolingo lesson and have to sit through an ad break, I tell myself I need to just GET THE PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP. And yet, I keep putting it off!
Hooray for such a great spending month! You are doing awesome!
The only subscription I have is to the NYT online. I don’t even know if I get a lot out of it, except for the recipes. (I try to avoid the news.) So I should probably just cancel it.
I have the NYT subscription, too. Mine is so cheap ($4/mo) that I don’t even include it in the round-up, which I probably shouldn’t admit, lol. I don’t know how much I get out of it, either!
Sounds like you’re doing great! I know sometimes it’s hard to judge because one category will be high one month, and then something else another. It does seem like you have to choose between having disposable income or a bigger place, and you obviously want a bigger place. I hope it all works out!
Right now I don’t have any patreon subscriptions, but I’m about to add Currently Reading- I love them so much. And I have spotify. We recently went through and canceled a lot of our subscriptions, so I think that’s it right now. Oh- I still have Amazon prime. Once again I have to talk to the family about that one- we all use it, including my son who orders things he needs like shampoo and supplements. I have to make sure everyone is on board before I can cancel it.
I cannot tell you how many subscriptions we have. A TON. I don’t know what Patreon is, and maybe I don’t want to find out. What would be most difficult to give up? Um…probably HBO/Max, but maybe Netflix. Probably the NYT app, we definitely use that every day.
Nice work on spending less than you thought! I love it when that happens! I have a subscription for a satellite communicator for the backcountry that is 7.99 a month, one for computer security/VPN and two different cloud services that are about $12 a month. I feel that they are all necessary!
I am sure you probably already know this, but for your HSA, (1) you can usually get reimbursed if you pay out of pocket and (2) this has no expiration date. So you could keep all of your receipts and then later down the road in 10 years if you need money, you could then submit them for reimbursement, which actually makes sense, since you can take money out of it without paying taxes (for medical items) and so it would have grown in ten years so you actually are better off sometimes letting it grow and using it later. Does that make sense?
You didn’t spend any money on your cats in June‽ I am amazed and would keep an eye on them, waiting for their revenge. Like they’re going to let you get away with that again? 😜
Thank you for the report!!
June was expensive because of the Russia trip (plane tickets, etc). Plus our kitchen renovation- but that’s through a heloc loan.
The one and only subscription I have and love is Spotify! Well, and WordPress but that’s $12 per year. Everything else I would have deleted a long time ago, but I’m married to someone who loves Netflix, and Hulu, and HBO. :[